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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26657950">Yonder Heart (And Somber Lover)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiteduck6/pseuds/whiteduck6'>whiteduck6</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Bleach</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(offscreen only), Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bullying, Dirty Jokes, Haircuts, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Non-Consensual Haircuts, Teen Romance, arguably gnc yumichika, i tagged both bc there is a haircut with consent at the end, i'd say about as gnc as he is in the manga, like very very implied, one (1) dirty joke, rather barren on the other characters here lads, sorry about that, you really have to be looking for it</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:01:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,859</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26657950</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiteduck6/pseuds/whiteduck6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Yumichika used to have beautiful long hair that fell halfway down his back. Why does he keep it short?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ayasegawa Yumichika/Madarame Ikkaku</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Yonder Heart (And Somber Lover)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>every other writer in the world: i'm prepping for nanowrimo right now<br/>me: hehe fanfiction machine go brrrr</p>
<p>Please be aware there is offscreen bullying in this fic. I don't think I made it too graphic, but please read with caution if that bothers you. </p>
<p>This is set in the same universe as my other Bleach Modern AU fics, but obviously a while before the others, as the characters are in high school in this fic.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ikkaku and Yumichika are in their second year of high school, and everything is looking up. </p>
<p>Yumichika's skating is taking off. He's still mostly doing local competitions, but he's making a moderate amount of prize money during the season. Ikkaku's grades are better than ever - not that they were particularly good to begin with - and his kendo club is rapidly climbing the ranks of the inter-high championships. </p>
<p>And, of course, ever since they started dating a year ago, Ikkaku's been looking at the world through rose-coloured glasses.</p>
<p>They haven't told a soul about their relationship - not either of their parents, not any of their friends, not even a whisper of it outside of the privacy of either of their bedrooms - but Ikkaku feels like he's been walking on air for the past year. Things have never been better. </p>
<p>But one day, for lunch, Yumichika doesn't show. </p>
<p>They're both pretty introverted, not really having many friends besides each other, so Ikkaku sits outside in their usual spot by himself, morosely eating the bento he made the night before, missing Yumichika's comments on how ugly his lunch looks. He <i>knows</i> he's not good at cutting egg into neat rabbit and cat shapes, but he wishes Yumichika were there to tell him so. </p>
<p>But he shows up for their next class, one of the few they have together, so Ikkaku doesn't think much of it. </p>
<p>"Where were you, at lunch today?" Ikkaku asks as they walk home together. </p>
<p>"None of your business," Yumichika replies coyly, flipping his long, silky braid over his shoulder. </p>
<p>Ikkaku should be satisfied with the answer, but he's known Yumichika since elementary school, and he knows he's lying. But Yumichika can take care of himself. And he's made it clear he doesn't want Ikkaku fighting his battles. So Ikkaku leaves it alone, laughing the comment off, hoping Yumichika doesn't notice how wooden it sounds. </p>
<p>--</p>
<p>A few days later, it finally gets warm enough that they can change into their summer uniforms. Ikkaku's glad for the lack of itchy wool scratching at his neck all day, much preferring the soft cotton of the summer uniform's button-up. It almost makes the rest of the monkey suit wearable. </p>
<p>Ikkaku meets Yumichika outside of his house, as usual. Yumichika hurries out the door, still chewing something as he shoves his feet into his shoes and slides his school bag over his shoulder. </p>
<p>"Too busy primpin'?" Ikkaku smiles, daring to brush away a stray hair from Yumichika's face. Yumichika flushes, and the corners of his lips tilt upwards, but he scans the horizon as he does, making sure no one can see. Ikkaku drops his hand. </p>
<p>"Something like that," Yumichika says, tucking a stray few strands of hair behind his ear, and as he does, Ikkaku sees the ugly, yellowing bruise on his forearm. </p>
<p>"Hey, what happened?" he asks, gently grabbing Yumichika's wrist so he can't hide it. </p>
<p>"I fell while skating," Yumichika says, jerking his arm back. Ikkaku lets him go. He knows the excuse is bullshit. He's seen years of figure skating injuries, and this looks nothing like them. Ikkaku's seen bruises like this in his kendo club, with his friends who roughhouse and wrestle with each other at every opportunity. It looks like someone . . . Grabbed him. </p>
<p>But Ikkaku doesn't comment. Because Yumichika can fight his own battles. Because Ikkaku knows he's self-conscious about any imperfection on his flawless skin. Because Ikkaku already touched him in public, so he doesn't want to cause any more trouble. </p>
<p>He shoves his hands into his pockets to hide how they clench into angry fists. </p>
<p>--</p>
<p>Yumichika is late to lunch that day, but when he arrives, it's unsubtly. </p>
<p>Ikkaku is playing with his food when he hears someone running. He looks up to see Yumichika barrelling towards him, not that Yumichika would ever use the word <i>barrelling</i> to describe himself. </p>
<p>Yumichika skids to a halt in front of him, winded even though he's one of the fittest people Ikkaku knows. His eyes cast around wildly, and he only relaxes when he's made sure the two of them are alone. </p>
<p>"What's up with you?" Ikkaku asks, closing his bento. Yumichika nearly collapses on the ground beside him. </p>
<p>"Nothing," Yumichika says. "Just some brutes who thought they could catch me while my back was turned." </p>
<p> "No one's givin' you trouble, right?" Ikkaku dares to say, even though he's not certain it's what he should be saying. </p>
<p>"Nothing I can't handle," Yumichika says, and Ikkaku nods, but he's not reassured. </p>
<p>"Don't worry," Yumichika says, smiling gently at Ikkaku. "I'm fine. Really." </p>
<p>Ikkaku glances around to make sure no one's near them, and, after confirming that fact, he leans in a little closer to Yumichika's ear. </p>
<p>"I don't want anyone giving you shit about anything, babe," he murmurs, and he hears Yumichika suck in a breath at the sudden closeness. "So if someone were bothering you about somethin' . . . I hope you would know I have your back. No matter what." </p>
<p>"Of course," Yumichika says, tipping his head to Ikkaku and looking up at him through his eyelashes. "But I think I've got this one, hon." </p>
<p>"I know ya do," Ikkaku says, a bit louder, leaning away again. He wishes he could hold Yumichika's hand at school, wrap his arm around his shoulders like all the other couples do, all that mushy crap. His chest aches at the forced absence they put between themselves. He soothes it a little by ruffling Yumichika's perfect hair, laughing loudly when Yumichika squawks angrily about how he's messing it up. </p>
<p>And for a while, it's like everything's normal again. </p>
<p>--</p>
<p>It's on a "date" when Ikkaku notices something else going awry.</p>
<p>Yumichika invited him over with the guise of playing the new Tekken game on his PS4, but Yumichika's parents are both out that weekend, so they both know this is going to be more of a date and less of a hangout. </p>
<p>Yumichika greets him at the door in a pair of soft black leggings and a teal tunic, his hair piled in a messy bun at the nape of his neck. He's parted his hair differently than usual, but Ikkaku doesn't think anything of it. He's hardly up to date on the hair trends himself, so surely this is just a new trend he's not familiar with.</p>
<p>"Ikkaku," he says, looking a little out of breath. "You're early." </p>
<p>"Am I?" Ikkaku looks at his watch. He knows by Yumichika's clothes that his parents aren't home anymore, so that's a plus, at least. </p>
<p>"I was--" Yumichika flushes bright red. "Well. I was . . . Attempting to make something." He steps aside so Ikkaku can enter, and as he takes off his shoes, he sniffs the air. </p>
<p>"It smells good," Ikkaku says, and a smile pulls at Yumichika's lips. "Well, you may change your tune after seeing them," Yumichika says as he puts on an oven mitt and pulls a cookie sheet out of the oven. </p>
<p>On the sheet are six perfectly-formed snowflake-shaped sugar cookies. Ikkaku can't tell what's wrong with them. </p>
<p>"They're perfect, babe," he says, approaching Yumichika from behind and wrapping his arms around the other boy's chest. "I don't see any issues." </p>
<p>Yumichika scoffs and laces his fingers with Ikkaku's. "You're too kind," he says. "They're all ragged around the edges." </p>
<p>Now that Ikkaku knows what to look for, he can sort of see what Yumichika means. They look a little wobbly on the edges, like maybe he had a hard time getting them out of the cookie cutter. But Ikkaku wouldn't have seen it if it hadn't been pointed out. </p>
<p>"Aw, you're bein' too hard on yourself," he says, "they're beautiful. And I bet they're gonna taste great." </p>
<p>"Well, they need to cool for a few minutes," Yumichika says. "In the meantime, I borrowed that movie you were telling me about from the library. Let me set it up, and then they should be ready to plate." </p>
<p>Yumichika slips out of his grip and scurries into the living room, fiddling with the DVD player. He pops open the DVD box and slides the disc inside, rummaging through a basket of remotes until he finds the right one. </p>
<p>"Sit down," Yumichika says, "my parents won't be home until, like, the middle of the night, so we can be out here." </p>
<p>Ikkaku settles himself on Yumichika's couch while Yumichika gets the cooled cookies on a plate. He sets it on the coffee table and then slides under Ikkaku's arm, resting his head on Ikkaku's shoulder and his arm on his chest. </p>
<p>"This got <i>terrible</i> reviews," Yumichika says, "so I think we'll enjoy it." </p>
<p>"I should hope so," Ikkaku scoffs. "<i>The VelociPastor</i>? It sounds right up my alley." </p>
<p>Yumichika laughs, and Ikkaku gently pulls his silky hair out of its bun to spill around his shoulders. As the movie starts, Ikkaku brushes Yumichika's hair away from his shoulders with his fingers, running his hands through it like they usually do, on the rare occasions they get to be alone and uninterrupted. Yumichika sighs softly, relaxing into the touch as Ikkaku runs his fingers right over what he knows is a bald spot that wasn't there before. </p>
<p>Yumichika tenses almost imperceptibly as Ikkaku's fingers hesitate. </p>
<p>"Yumi?" he asks, trying very hard to keep his voice steady because he <i>knows</i> Yumichika would never do anything like this to himself. </p>
<p>"It's nothing," Yumichika says like he's trying to convince himself. </p>
<p>Ikkaku swallows hard because he trusts Yumichika, of course he does, he trusts his judgement and he trusts that he knows when to ask for help but everything is screaming at him that <i>something is going on.</i> He wants to say something, he so badly wants to say something, but he doesn't want to endanger what they have. He's pretty sure he would die if Yumichika got angry at him, he would wither away and turn to dust. </p>
<p>So he keeps his mouth shut. And he trusts Yumichika. And he hopes to hell he's making the right call here. </p>
<p>--</p>
<p>He didn't make the right call, as it turns out. </p>
<p>Yumichika doesn't show up to lunch again that Monday. After ten minutes of waiting, Ikkaku angrily puts his lunch set back together and shoves back in his locker, determined to track the other boy down. </p>
<p>He checks their usual haunts - abandoned stairwells, unused classrooms, under the bleachers in the gym. He's nowhere to be seen. He's about to give up when a sudden idea hits him -- <i>he couldn't be . . . ?</i></p>
<p>He hurries to the boys' washroom, listening carefully at the door. If Yumichika's not here, he doesn't want to be a creep stalking around the bathrooms, but if he is . . . </p>
<p>Almost too quietly to hear, Ikkaku hears a hitched breath coming from one of the bathroom stalls. He approaches it, not really hiding his presence, but trying not to make a huge racket. </p>
<p>"Yumichika?" he asks, very quietly, tapping gently on the door with the bony part of his index finger. </p>
<p>The hitches immediately stop, and Ikkaku's stomach goes cold. What could be so bad that Yumichika doesn't want him to know about it? They tell each other <i>everything</i>.</p>
<p>"Yumi, can you let me in?" Ikkaku whispers. "It's just me. No one else is here." </p>
<p>There's a long, <i>long</i> pause where Ikkaku's certain Yumichika's going to ice him out and he's going to have to walk away and leave this conversation for another day, but the lock on the door finally clicks open, and Ikkaku opens it slowly. </p>
<p>Yumichika is crouched in the corner of the stall, his knees tucked into his chest, his head down. His shoulders are shaking infinitesimally, and he flinches when Ikkaku lays a hand on his shoulder. </p>
<p>"Baby, what happened?" Ikkaku whispers, still keeping an ear out for anyone who may want to come into the washroom. "I want to help, but--" </p>
<p>Wordlessly, Yumichika holds out his hand, his fingers wrapped around something so alien Ikkaku can't even begin to identify it, at first. But once it clicks into focus, it's like a punch in the gut. </p>
<p>It's the remains of Yumichika's beautiful, long, braid, cruelly shorn from his head. </p>
<p>"They cut it off," Yumichika whispers, his voice crackling with emotion. "They fucking cut it off!" He shouts the second sentence, throwing the hair across the stall with as much force as he can muster. It hits the door and slithers to the ground in a rather sad pile. Now that Ikkaku's looking, he can see that Yumichika's hair is much, much shorter. Shorter than it had been in years. </p>
<p>"Oh, Yumi," Ikkaku wraps the other boy in his arms, pulling him into his lap as a fresh wave of sobs come over him. "I'm gonna kill them, baby. I'm gonna fucking kill them."</p>
<p>Yumichika doesn't say anything for several long moments, until he's gotten his breathing back under control. "Don't do that," he mutters. "It won't change anything." </p>
<p>Ice crystallizes in Ikkaku's spinal fluid. "What do you mean?" </p>
<p>Yumichika sniffles a little, clearing his throat. "I went to the principal last week. I know, I should have asked you but--I didn't want to--to admit to it. He basically said I should just ignore it and it would go away, and <i>had I considered trying to fit in more?</i>" He snarks the principal's voice and it almost makes Ikkaku laugh as he screams at himself internally, thinking why, <i>why</i> didn't he put two and two together faster. </p>
<p>"Oh, baby. Oh, sweetheart. I'm so sorry, honey. That wasn't right." </p>
<p>Yumichika scrubs at his eyes with his hands. "Two more years. Then we can go anywhere we want." </p>
<p>"We can leave sooner than that," Ikkaku says, wrapping his hands around Yumichika's shaking ones. "We can run away together, like in those romance comics. We'll go to Europe, or Canada, somewhere where it's better. Or even just somewhere in Japan where no one knows us." </p>
<p>Yumichika laughs, a little wetly. "How would we support ourselves, idiot? No one would rent an apartment to a couple of teenagers." </p>
<p>Ikkaku smiles a bit at Yumichika's familiar snark, but his heart still hurts with sympathy. "No one's gonna touch you again, baby," he says, "I swear. I swear on my sword." </p>
<p>Yumichika swallows heavily and starts to get up, pulling Ikkaku up with him. "Your sword, huh?" he laughs a little, almost to himself. "Your <i>sword</i>?" </p>
<p>"My real sword, dumbass," Ikkaku laughs, smacking Yumichika's arm gently. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up. Lunch is almost over. Have you eaten anything?" </p>
<p>"No, I didn't get a chance," Yumichika says as he splashes water on his face at the sinks. </p>
<p>"I'll share with you," Ikkaku says. "I'm not lettin' you out of my sight ever again." </p>
<p>"While I'm flattered," Yumichika says, sounding more and more like himself by the second, "I think I'm going to be a lot less tolerant from now on. But if you insist . . ." he looks up at Ikkaku coyly. "I'd be honored to have such a brave warrior guarding me." </p>
<p>Ikkaku flushes hotly, unsure of where to look. "L-listen, if it's really gonna bother you, I won't," he says, scrubbing at the back of his neck as Yumichika dries his face off with a paper towel, reapplying concealer under his eyes in the mirror. </p>
<p>"I'm kidding," Yumichika says, swiping on his vanilla-flavoured lip balm and rubbing his lips together. "I never feel safer than with you by my side."</p>
<p>He presses a vanilla-flavoured kiss to Ikkaku's lips, and Ikkaku melts. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <i>Epilogue</i>
</p>
<p>"Are you sure about this?" Ikkaku says, his phone in one hand and the hairdressing scissors Yumichika had handed him in the other. Yumichika is sitting on a chair in his bathroom, a towel flung over his shoulders and his choppy, uneven hair draped over his shoulders. </p>
<p>"I'm certain," Yumichika says. "It's hideous right now. If it has to be short, it might as well be beautiful. And I trust you'll do a good job." </p>
<p>Ikkaku takes a deep breath, steadying himself as he starts the tutorial video and sets his phone on the bathroom counter. "I might have to cut it a little shorter," he says, "how short is your limit?" </p>
<p>"No shorter than the jawline, ideally," Yumichika says like Ikkaku has any idea what that means. "Here." He gestures, and Ikkaku lets out a breath. </p>
<p>"I'll only cut off what I have to," Ikkaku says, catching his tongue between his teeth as he starts trimming. </p>
<p>Haircutting turns out to be easier than it looks, and soon enough Yumichika is surrounded by a half-halo of tiny hairs on the ground, and his own hair just brushes his jaw. </p>
<p>"Is that okay?" Ikkaku asks as Yumichika stands up to look at it in the mirror. He examines it from several angles, fanning it out and letting it slide over his hands before he says anything. </p>
<p>"It's beautiful," Yumichika says, his face breaking into a smile. "It's perfect. Thank you, Ikkaku." </p>
<p>Ikkaku can't stop the massive grin that spreads across his face at the praise, and he wraps Yumichika up in his arms, pressing kisses all down his newly revealed neck until Yumichika is squealing with laughter.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I was homeschooled in Canada, so please excuse any inaccuracies with the Japanese public school system, lol. I did as well as I could, but if there are any glaringly wrong points, please let me know so I can fix them!</p>
<p>I hope you enjoyed reading! Constructive criticism is appreciated.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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